CRITIC REVIEWS

Each song grows richer the more you explore its open space. Its minimalism breathes buckets of color. After one listen or 10, In Colour reflects brightly, a phenomenally poised and universally approachable solo debut.

It’s the dazzling culmination of Jamie xx’s last six years of work, gathering up elements of everything he’s done—moody ballads, floor-filling bangers, expansive and off-kilter collaborations with vocalists—and packing them tightly into a glittering ball that reflects spinning fragments of feeling back at us.

There’s a depth to this record that evokes an intellectual approach to his craft: every beat, synth and sample appears to have been meticulously planned by this music nerd (which is in no way meant as a diss).

It is exceedingly rare to find a producer who does so much, with so little, that he distilled from, again, so much. If drugs are the backbone of beat-based music, as some argue, Jamie xx’s is the purest kind.

Although each of the LP's 11 parts change genres and tempo at the drop of a hat, In Colour consistently feels cohesive and directed. It is not simply a collection of disparate electronic styles, but a portfolio of the full skill-set of one of Britain's best producers.

If the aim was to establish himself as an individual performer of great talent, to send off the nervous shoe-gazing boy reputation – to efface his own self-effacement, maybe – In Colour is a great success.

It seems that, rather than setting out to create a straight-up dance record, he's used the manifold stylistic languages of dance to make an easily-digestible electronic-pop record that's about dance music and Why we Dance.

Jamie xx's debut full length album is everything I wanted it to be and more. In Colour is a joyous carnival ride through space and crowded festivals and doesn't let up from beginning to end. Jamie xx has really outdone himself with this one, and it was definitely worth the wait.

Jamie xx, as both a driving force behind The xx and his own electronic music career, has an instantly distinguishable tone. His music has a calming fluidity, it’s smoky and liquid, often creating tracks that in the hands of other producers could be overdriven bangers. Instead, he carves out meditative moments, dancehall music that you could dream and rave to at a high volume. It felt like a forgone conclusion that his debut solo album would be at worst a consistent effort, but now? ... read more

Very few albums are able to put me in a trance like this album can, the track Stranger in a Room is the only slump in the tracklist for me and that's because of Oliver Sim's relatively uninspired vocal performance. However from a production and songwriting standpoint, I think this album is near flawless, it just seriously hits the spot for me in a way no other album pulls off.

You can argue that this album is really simple... and you'd be right. Nothing on this album is changing how we percieve electronic music as it is, it's just meant to be a really fun and enjoyable album, and it is. As you can already guess, this album is really colorful. All the colors you see on the cover is essentially made into music, and while that sounds really cheesy, it's the truth. You'll never be bored with this album. Every second is filled with grooves, amazing vocal samples, and ... read more

I mean...I guess it's good. I don't know. It really didn't do anything for me, it didn't sound much different than any other electronic music I've heard, it didn't sound exciting to be honest it was sorta boring. I guess there's an atmosphere here of just echo sounds if that's what gets you going. Young Thug's verse is the highlight of the album and the only thing that kept me from falling asleep from the repetitive echo and drum and bass that the rest of the album was. While being boring as ... read more